NJ Online Gambling Bill Awaits Governor's Signature

TRENTON, NJ -- Gov. Chris Christie, who vetoed an online gambling bill in early 2012, has not signaled whether he plans to sign or veto a similar measure that passed the Legislature on Dec. 17. The Republican governor has until Feb. 3 to sign or reject the measure.

The new bill (S. 1565), like the previous version, would authorize only brick-and-mortar casino operators in Atlantic City to operate online versions of their games, and would permit residents of other states to play if the state attorney general determined this would not contravene federal law. The bill states that servers for Internet gaming products must reside inside Atlantic City's casinos.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), lead sponsor of the bill, voiced hopes that New Jersey could launch online gaming before May 1.

Last year, Christie endorsed online gambling in theory, but objected to certain provisions in the original bill, which he said could result in online casinos springing up statewide.